Questions are surfacing about "Israel's" use of tear-gas grenades, as security officials investigate the recent death of a protester at the weekly demonstration near the separation fence at the West Bank village of Bil'in. 

A 36-year-old woman, Jawaher Abu Rahmah, died on Saturday morning.The medical report filed in the Ramallah hospital where Abu Rahmah was taken shows that her death was caused by respiratory failure resulting from the inhalation of tear gas.

Haaretz newspaper obtained the medical report on Sunday from Jawaher's brother, Ahmed Abu Rahmah.

Jawaher Abu Rahmah, according to Haaretz is the second victim in one family of tear gas grenades. She was the sister of Bassem Abu Rahmah, who was killed in April 2009 when "Israeli" soldiers fired a tear-gas grenade at his chest at a demonstration at the fence in Bil'in. Ahmed Abu Rahmah has three surviving brothers; their father died five years ago. "My entire family is ruined," he said on Sunday. "The whole house feels a sense of catastrophe."

The "Israeli" occupation forces use crowd-dispersal tear gas known as CS, which was developed half a century ago in Britain and the United States. It is used by armies and police forces around the world. In recent years, a number of studies have cast doubts about this type of gas; there have been reports of several deaths caused by the inhalation CS tear gas.

An "Israeli" doctor who regularly takes part in the demonstrations against the separation fence, Daniel Argo says recent eye and lung injuries, as well as skin diseases, can be associated with the use of CS tear gas. 

"There are other types of tear gas that are not as dangerous as CS; why the defense establishment insists on continuing its use is not clear," Argo said.
The United Nations has expressed concern at the recent deaths of Palestinian civilians, including a woman, by "Israeli" soldiers in the occupied West Bank.

"We are very worried that two Palestinians have lost their lives in recent days in incidents involving "Israeli" forces in the occupied West Bank," AFP quoted UN spokesman in "Israel" Richard Miron as saying on Sunday.

On Sunday morning, a Palestinian man from Tubas, Mohammed Daraghmeh, was killed at around 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) at the Hamra checkpoint northeast of Nablus after sustaining bullet wounds to his chest, hand and leg.

The "Israeli" media initially claimed Daraghmeh, in his early twenties, had tried to stab soldiers at the checkpoint. But the military later confirmed that the man was not armed.

Haaretz said on Sunday that the army blamed the killing on "a combination of misunderstandings stemming from the Palestinian citizen's inexplicable behavior and the high state of alert of the soldiers."

Palestinian security sources said Daraghmeh was trying to pass through the checkpoint on his way to work at a West Bank settlement when he was stopped and consequently killed by "Israeli" troops.
The Palestinian Authority has condemned the two deaths as a "war crime" and a "dangerous escalation" by "Israel" aimed at demolishing any hope of peace in the Middle East.

On Saturday, hundreds of protestors and activists gathered outside "Israel's" war ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv to protest against the continued occupation of the West Bank and Abu Rahma's death.